Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
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Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $700
Unsold
A large handwritten, illustrated greeting card, presented to Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski in the Lodz Ghetto. Dworska St., the eve of Rosh Hashanah 5702 (1941). Yiddish.
"Shanah Tovah" card presented to the head of the Lodz Ghetto Judenrat Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski from the "hectographic department on Dworska St." in the ghetto (where the main offices of the Ghetto management were located): "We, the management and the workers of the hectographic department on 1 Dworska [St.], have the honor of sending you our best wishes for the New Year. We, who have the honor of carrying out your orders and demands, daily admire your vigor and persistence in your work for the Jewish population. We wish you success in everything you do" (Yiddish).
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[1] leaf, folded in half (two written and illustrated pages), 30 cm. Good condition. Filing holes. Many stains (mainly to blank verso). Creases. Several tears to margins.
"Shanah Tovah" card presented to the head of the Lodz Ghetto Judenrat Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski from the "hectographic department on Dworska St." in the ghetto (where the main offices of the Ghetto management were located): "We, the management and the workers of the hectographic department on 1 Dworska [St.], have the honor of sending you our best wishes for the New Year. We, who have the honor of carrying out your orders and demands, daily admire your vigor and persistence in your work for the Jewish population. We wish you success in everything you do" (Yiddish).
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[1] leaf, folded in half (two written and illustrated pages), 30 cm. Good condition. Filing holes. Many stains (mainly to blank verso). Creases. Several tears to margins.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $500
Sold for: $625
Including buyer's premium
"Mishloach Manot… 5701" (Hebrew), a handwritten booklet made for the festival of Purim and presented to the head of the Lodz Ghetto Judenrat, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. [Lodz], 1941.
The booklet, presumably made by a resident of the Lodz Ghetto, contains several word plays in the spirit of Purim: the author's name was encoded within a verse written on the title page (some of the letters are marked and when combined reveal the Hebrew name Ya'akov Brickman); the second page features seven blessings, arranged in the form of a Star of David; and the third page features an acrostic poem – the first letters of the lines spell the Hebrew name "Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski". The booklet also features three interesting inscriptions – a Hebrew inscription on the title page reads "From the yeshiva students, [?]irska 43/45" (Hebrew); another Hebrew inscription on the same page reads "My works are for a king; my tongue is a pen of an expert scribe" (Psalms 45:2); the third inscription, written in Yiddish on the back of the last leaf, reads "to the elder [or wisest] of the Jews of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Mr. M.C. Rumkowski".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[4] leaves (two sheets folded in half, stapled to form a booklet). Approx. 30.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and creases. Fold lines. Small tears to edges. A small open tear to first leaf (slightly affecting text).
The booklet, presumably made by a resident of the Lodz Ghetto, contains several word plays in the spirit of Purim: the author's name was encoded within a verse written on the title page (some of the letters are marked and when combined reveal the Hebrew name Ya'akov Brickman); the second page features seven blessings, arranged in the form of a Star of David; and the third page features an acrostic poem – the first letters of the lines spell the Hebrew name "Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski". The booklet also features three interesting inscriptions – a Hebrew inscription on the title page reads "From the yeshiva students, [?]irska 43/45" (Hebrew); another Hebrew inscription on the same page reads "My works are for a king; my tongue is a pen of an expert scribe" (Psalms 45:2); the third inscription, written in Yiddish on the back of the last leaf, reads "to the elder [or wisest] of the Jews of the Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Mr. M.C. Rumkowski".
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski (1877-1944) headed the Judenrat of the Lodz Ghetto through its entire existence. Rumkowski is considered one of the most controversial figures in the history of the Holocaust and as the head of the ghetto instituted an extreme personality cult, orchestrating parades in his honor, hanging his picture in schools, issuing banknotes and postage stamps with his portrait, etc., so much that some defined his rule as "a state within a state, a corrupt Fascist miniature". Among his roles, Rumkowski was responsible for providing lists of people to be deported to the extermination camps. In 1944, he was transferred with the last inmates of the ghetto to the Auschwitz extermination camp, where he was murdered, presumably, that same day.
[4] leaves (two sheets folded in half, stapled to form a booklet). Approx. 30.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains and creases. Fold lines. Small tears to edges. A small open tear to first leaf (slightly affecting text).
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $300
Sold for: $375
Including buyer's premium
Four 10 Pfennig coins used in the Lodz Ghetto, 1942.
Diameter: 21 mm. Fair-poor condition. Worn.
Diameter: 21 mm. Fair-poor condition. Worn.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $2,000
Unsold
A unique album featuring side by side ephemera items from the Theresienstadt Ghetto and pastoral landscape pictures of the Czech town of Terezin (adjacent to the ghetto). First half of the 1940s [some items may be earlier or later]. German and some Polish.
The album, presumably made by Karl Langfelder, a prisoner of the ghetto, presents evidence of life in the ghetto alongside postcards.
The ephemera items include: "vaccination card" of the Theresienstadt Ghetto, 1942; two work permits, hand-signed by a supervisor, 1942; a worker's card of the electricity department (Abteilung Elektrizität) of Theresienstadt, 1943; two orders to report to the Barackenbau forced labor unit (the group was sent in 1944 to build barracks for SS officers near the village of Wulkow), 1944; two passes issued by the Judenrat of Theresienstadt (different forms. One stamped with the Judenrat stamp), 1944; seven banknotes from the Theresienstadt ghetto, in the values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Krone; and more.
The Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Nazis in 1941 near the town of Terezin, Czechoslovakia. It was run by the SS, the prisoners suffering from overcrowding, starvation, and disease. In preparation for a visit of an investigative commission of the International Red Cross, the Germans decided to turn Theresienstadt into a "model ghetto": stores, a coffee house, a bank and a school were opened, and gardens were planted in the ghetto. Later, a propaganda film (Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet) was made in the ghetto, screened for representatives of the Red Cross. Not long after the production was completed, most of the prisoners of the ghetto were deported to extermination camps.
Enclosed: four handwritten letters (Czech); two photographs; a prospect of the Yad Vashem exhibition "Drawings from Terezin"; three copies of documents and two newspaper leaves.
A total pf approx. 25 ephemera items and 12 postcards (some incomplete); mounted on ten leaves. Size and condition vary. Some loose items. Album: approx. 24.5X34.5 cm. Detached leaves. Stains. Closed and open tears to edges. Scuffs and traces of mounting to several leaves.
The album, presumably made by Karl Langfelder, a prisoner of the ghetto, presents evidence of life in the ghetto alongside postcards.
The ephemera items include: "vaccination card" of the Theresienstadt Ghetto, 1942; two work permits, hand-signed by a supervisor, 1942; a worker's card of the electricity department (Abteilung Elektrizität) of Theresienstadt, 1943; two orders to report to the Barackenbau forced labor unit (the group was sent in 1944 to build barracks for SS officers near the village of Wulkow), 1944; two passes issued by the Judenrat of Theresienstadt (different forms. One stamped with the Judenrat stamp), 1944; seven banknotes from the Theresienstadt ghetto, in the values of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Krone; and more.
The Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Nazis in 1941 near the town of Terezin, Czechoslovakia. It was run by the SS, the prisoners suffering from overcrowding, starvation, and disease. In preparation for a visit of an investigative commission of the International Red Cross, the Germans decided to turn Theresienstadt into a "model ghetto": stores, a coffee house, a bank and a school were opened, and gardens were planted in the ghetto. Later, a propaganda film (Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet) was made in the ghetto, screened for representatives of the Red Cross. Not long after the production was completed, most of the prisoners of the ghetto were deported to extermination camps.
Enclosed: four handwritten letters (Czech); two photographs; a prospect of the Yad Vashem exhibition "Drawings from Terezin"; three copies of documents and two newspaper leaves.
A total pf approx. 25 ephemera items and 12 postcards (some incomplete); mounted on ten leaves. Size and condition vary. Some loose items. Album: approx. 24.5X34.5 cm. Detached leaves. Stains. Closed and open tears to edges. Scuffs and traces of mounting to several leaves.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $500
Sold for: $1,063
Including buyer's premium
Two drawing depicting the Theresienstadt Ghetto (Terezin) by Joseph (Joe) Spier, executed during his time in the ghetto. Theresienstadt (now in the Czech Republic), 1943.
Ink and watercolors on paper. Both are signed and dated.
One drawing depicts a prisoner at work, kneeling; captioned at bottom "Gymn. Prof. Dr. C. Aus Dresden" [Gymnasium Professor, Dr. C. of Dresden]. The other painting depicts a group of prisoners in the ghetto.
Joseph (Joe) Eduard Adolf Spier (1900-1978) was a Jewish-Dutch artist and illustrator. During the 1920s and 1930s, he worked as an illustrator and caricaturist for the popular newspaper "De Telegraaf"; however, after the occupation of Holland by Nazi Germany in 1940 he was fired from the newspaper. During this period, his works became increasingly political and after publishing a satirical caricature of Adolph Hitler, he was arrested and sent to Camp Westerbork, a police transit camp for Jews. His luck held for a short time when one of Holland's senior politicians, the pro-Nazi nationalist Anton Mussert, turned out to be a fan of his works and made sure he was moved with his family to Villa Bouchina; but shortly afterwards the family was sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where they remained until the end of the war. During his time in the ghetto, Spier painted murals in the children's shacks, but was also forced to participate in the production of the propaganda film "Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet" ("Theresienstadt: A Documentary Film from the Jewish Settlement Area"). After the war, he was heavily criticized for his participation and many in Holland saw him as a Nazi collaborator. In 1951 he immigrated with his family to the USA.
16.5X13.5 cm; approx. 4X16 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. The drawings are mounted on cardboard plates and framed (old frames, with blemishes). Unexamined out of frames.
Ink and watercolors on paper. Both are signed and dated.
One drawing depicts a prisoner at work, kneeling; captioned at bottom "Gymn. Prof. Dr. C. Aus Dresden" [Gymnasium Professor, Dr. C. of Dresden]. The other painting depicts a group of prisoners in the ghetto.
Joseph (Joe) Eduard Adolf Spier (1900-1978) was a Jewish-Dutch artist and illustrator. During the 1920s and 1930s, he worked as an illustrator and caricaturist for the popular newspaper "De Telegraaf"; however, after the occupation of Holland by Nazi Germany in 1940 he was fired from the newspaper. During this period, his works became increasingly political and after publishing a satirical caricature of Adolph Hitler, he was arrested and sent to Camp Westerbork, a police transit camp for Jews. His luck held for a short time when one of Holland's senior politicians, the pro-Nazi nationalist Anton Mussert, turned out to be a fan of his works and made sure he was moved with his family to Villa Bouchina; but shortly afterwards the family was sent to the Theresienstadt Ghetto, where they remained until the end of the war. During his time in the ghetto, Spier painted murals in the children's shacks, but was also forced to participate in the production of the propaganda film "Theresienstadt. Ein Dokumentarfilm aus dem jüdischen Siedlungsgebiet" ("Theresienstadt: A Documentary Film from the Jewish Settlement Area"). After the war, he was heavily criticized for his participation and many in Holland saw him as a Nazi collaborator. In 1951 he immigrated with his family to the USA.
16.5X13.5 cm; approx. 4X16 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. The drawings are mounted on cardboard plates and framed (old frames, with blemishes). Unexamined out of frames.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
![Z otchłani, poezje [From the Abyss, Poems]. Warsaw: Ż. K. N. ("Jewish National Committee"), 1944. Polish. "From the Abyss", p](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/214.jpg "\"From the Abyss\" – Collection of Resistance Poems Written under Nazi O")
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $500
Unsold
Z otchłani, poezje [From the Abyss, Poems]. Warsaw: Ż. K. N. ("Jewish National Committee"), 1944. Polish.
"From the Abyss", published about a year after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, is a rare expression of resistance to the Nazi regime and its crimes in the Jewish ghetto and outside of it. The eleven poems in the book were printed anonymously and their writers' identity was revealed only after the liberation of Poland by the Red Army – Nobel Laureate Czesław Miłosz, literary scholar Jan Kott, Jewish poets Mieczysław Jastrun and Michal Borwicz, and others. The editor of the collection is, presumably, the poet Tadeusz Sarnecki, a member of Żegota, the underground Polish Council to Aid Jews, who wrote the last poem in the book and was the only one who signed it with a pseudonym – Jan Wajdelota.
The publisher, "Jewish National Committee" (Żydowski Komitet Narodowy), was an underground organization founded in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. It served as the "political arm" of the Jewish Fighting Organization ŻOB and was responsible for its contact with the resistance outside the ghetto. This book, published about a year after the Jewish military resistance was repressed, was smuggled from Europe to the USA and printed in New York when the war was still raging, under the title "Ghetto Poetry of the Jewish Underground in Poland" (Polish: Poezje ghetta z podziemia żydowskiego w Polsce; published by Association of Friends of our Tribune, 1945).
One of the better-known poems in this book is "Campo de' Fiori" by Czesław Miłosz – one of the greatest poets of the 20th century and a Nobel Laureate in literature (1980). The poem describes the indifference of the masses in face of two historical atrocities – the burning at the stake of the Italian scientist Giordano Bruno in Campo de' Fiori and the crushing of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto by the German army: "the people of Rome or Warsaw / haggle, laugh, make love / as they pass by the martyrs' pyres" (Translation: David Brooks and Louis Iribarne).
23 pp, approx. 14 cm. Good condition. Minor creases. Stains to cover and first leaf. Top edge trimmed at a slant.
"From the Abyss", published about a year after the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, is a rare expression of resistance to the Nazi regime and its crimes in the Jewish ghetto and outside of it. The eleven poems in the book were printed anonymously and their writers' identity was revealed only after the liberation of Poland by the Red Army – Nobel Laureate Czesław Miłosz, literary scholar Jan Kott, Jewish poets Mieczysław Jastrun and Michal Borwicz, and others. The editor of the collection is, presumably, the poet Tadeusz Sarnecki, a member of Żegota, the underground Polish Council to Aid Jews, who wrote the last poem in the book and was the only one who signed it with a pseudonym – Jan Wajdelota.
The publisher, "Jewish National Committee" (Żydowski Komitet Narodowy), was an underground organization founded in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942. It served as the "political arm" of the Jewish Fighting Organization ŻOB and was responsible for its contact with the resistance outside the ghetto. This book, published about a year after the Jewish military resistance was repressed, was smuggled from Europe to the USA and printed in New York when the war was still raging, under the title "Ghetto Poetry of the Jewish Underground in Poland" (Polish: Poezje ghetta z podziemia żydowskiego w Polsce; published by Association of Friends of our Tribune, 1945).
One of the better-known poems in this book is "Campo de' Fiori" by Czesław Miłosz – one of the greatest poets of the 20th century and a Nobel Laureate in literature (1980). The poem describes the indifference of the masses in face of two historical atrocities – the burning at the stake of the Italian scientist Giordano Bruno in Campo de' Fiori and the crushing of the Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto by the German army: "the people of Rome or Warsaw / haggle, laugh, make love / as they pass by the martyrs' pyres" (Translation: David Brooks and Louis Iribarne).
23 pp, approx. 14 cm. Good condition. Minor creases. Stains to cover and first leaf. Top edge trimmed at a slant.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $6,500
Unsold
Collection of letters, telegrams and documents from the estate of Nathan Schwalb, the representative of the World Center of the Hechalutz movement in Geneva during the Holocaust. Geneva, Warsaw, Istanbul and elsewhere in Europe and Palestine, late 1930s and 1940s. German, English, Polish and Hebrew (a few documents in other languages).
The most important part of the collection consists of about 70 letters, telegrams and documents exchanged between Schwalb and the remaining members of Zionist movements in Europe and relief organizations during the war (many of these letters are written in code). These include:
· A letter from a woman named Hanna incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto, September 1940, with an update on the situation of the Gordonia movement and references to various members of the movement, some of whom fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – Eliezer Geller, Natan Eck, Yisrael [Zeltzer], Regina Wajchman and others.
· A letter to members of the Gordonia movement in the Warsaw Ghetto, Eliezer Geller and David Steinberg, January 1941, referring to packages sent to families in the ghetto and to conflicts between the leaders of the movement, providing updates on the progress of the Zionist enterprise in Palestine, and more.
· An interesting letter by Melech Neustadt (a Labor Zionist leader who advocated the allocation of rescue funds primarily to Zionist movements) from November 1942, presumably discussing transfer of funds to members of Zionist movements in Europe (listing recipient families). Neustadt mentions that Eliezer Gruenbaum, son of Yitzhak Gruenbaum (head of the Rescue Committee of the Jewish Agency) was deported to a concentration camp in Poland (Eliezer Gruenbaum was a kapo in the Auschwitz concentration camp; after the war, he was accused of cruelty towards Jewish prisoners).
· A letter addressed to one Ella, October 1943, mentioning a request to receive the "names of the murderers, directors of the camps", money transferred by a "messenger", the "uncles" (presumably sponsors of the rescue activities), news about digging a "cemetery" (extermination camps?) and more.
· An interesting letter to one Michael (presumably Rabbi Michael Weissmandl) from July 1944, referring to a "Matarah Nisgawah" (a sublime cause) which will cost the lives of many Jews, to the Auschwitz extermination camp and the Theresienstadt ghetto, and to a trip of 270 relatives of "Spinoza" and "Alfred S." to Palestine.
· A letter to Roswell McClelland (the representative of the War Refugee Board in Bern) from July 1945, concerning a package Schwalb attempted to send to acquaintances in one of the concentration or extermination camps (possibly after it had become a DP camp), detailing the content of the package (clothes, food, a sewing kit).
· And more.
The collection also contains about 85 letters, telegrams and documents from the mid and late 1940s, after the war, including receipts for funds transferred to leaders of Zionist movements, dozens of telegrams requesting aid for the survivors, financial documents, and more.
Nathan Schwalb (1908-2004) was born in Stanisławów (today Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). In his youth, he joined the HeChalutz movement in Ukraine, immigrated to Palestine and became a member of Kibbutz Chulda. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, he participated in the Zionist Congress in Geneva, and upon learning about the situation of the Jews in Europe, decided to stay in Geneva and offer whatever help he could. He was the representative of the World Center of the Hechalutz movement in Geneva, made efforts to raise funds, maintained hundreds of informers and contacts, and even took part in the attempts to organize the escape of Jews from Europe. Schwalb was later accused of favoring his acquaintances, members of his party and members of HeChalutz when allocating funds.
A total of approx. 155 documents and letters from the late 1930s and 1940s. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Enclosed: more than a hundred letters, documents and copies of documents from later periods in Schwalb's life (some of them personal and some related to his activity during the war); nine photographs.
The most important part of the collection consists of about 70 letters, telegrams and documents exchanged between Schwalb and the remaining members of Zionist movements in Europe and relief organizations during the war (many of these letters are written in code). These include:
· A letter from a woman named Hanna incarcerated in the Warsaw Ghetto, September 1940, with an update on the situation of the Gordonia movement and references to various members of the movement, some of whom fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising – Eliezer Geller, Natan Eck, Yisrael [Zeltzer], Regina Wajchman and others.
· A letter to members of the Gordonia movement in the Warsaw Ghetto, Eliezer Geller and David Steinberg, January 1941, referring to packages sent to families in the ghetto and to conflicts between the leaders of the movement, providing updates on the progress of the Zionist enterprise in Palestine, and more.
· An interesting letter by Melech Neustadt (a Labor Zionist leader who advocated the allocation of rescue funds primarily to Zionist movements) from November 1942, presumably discussing transfer of funds to members of Zionist movements in Europe (listing recipient families). Neustadt mentions that Eliezer Gruenbaum, son of Yitzhak Gruenbaum (head of the Rescue Committee of the Jewish Agency) was deported to a concentration camp in Poland (Eliezer Gruenbaum was a kapo in the Auschwitz concentration camp; after the war, he was accused of cruelty towards Jewish prisoners).
· A letter addressed to one Ella, October 1943, mentioning a request to receive the "names of the murderers, directors of the camps", money transferred by a "messenger", the "uncles" (presumably sponsors of the rescue activities), news about digging a "cemetery" (extermination camps?) and more.
· An interesting letter to one Michael (presumably Rabbi Michael Weissmandl) from July 1944, referring to a "Matarah Nisgawah" (a sublime cause) which will cost the lives of many Jews, to the Auschwitz extermination camp and the Theresienstadt ghetto, and to a trip of 270 relatives of "Spinoza" and "Alfred S." to Palestine.
· A letter to Roswell McClelland (the representative of the War Refugee Board in Bern) from July 1945, concerning a package Schwalb attempted to send to acquaintances in one of the concentration or extermination camps (possibly after it had become a DP camp), detailing the content of the package (clothes, food, a sewing kit).
· And more.
The collection also contains about 85 letters, telegrams and documents from the mid and late 1940s, after the war, including receipts for funds transferred to leaders of Zionist movements, dozens of telegrams requesting aid for the survivors, financial documents, and more.
Nathan Schwalb (1908-2004) was born in Stanisławów (today Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine). In his youth, he joined the HeChalutz movement in Ukraine, immigrated to Palestine and became a member of Kibbutz Chulda. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, in 1939, he participated in the Zionist Congress in Geneva, and upon learning about the situation of the Jews in Europe, decided to stay in Geneva and offer whatever help he could. He was the representative of the World Center of the Hechalutz movement in Geneva, made efforts to raise funds, maintained hundreds of informers and contacts, and even took part in the attempts to organize the escape of Jews from Europe. Schwalb was later accused of favoring his acquaintances, members of his party and members of HeChalutz when allocating funds.
A total of approx. 155 documents and letters from the late 1930s and 1940s. Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Enclosed: more than a hundred letters, documents and copies of documents from later periods in Schwalb's life (some of them personal and some related to his activity during the war); nine photographs.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $400
Sold for: $625
Including buyer's premium
About 65 letters, documents and forms documenting the aid activities of Jacob and Yenta Stern, managers of a Jewish children's home in Langenbruck, for European Jews during the Holocaust. Switzerland, France and elsewhere, 1939-1943. German. Some French and Dutch.
Rabbi Jacob Stern and his wife Yenta escaped Nazi Germany to Switzerland. During the war, the couple managed a children's home in the Waldek hotel building in Langenbruck, Switzerland, which housed about 50 Jewish children from religious families who had escaped the Third Reich. This collection documents their attempts to assist Jews in Nazi-occupied countries.
The collection includes:
· Three receipts for food products sent to Belgium, issued by the customs and export authorities of Switzerland (with the surename "Auffenberg" noted in two of the receipts). September-October 1940.
· Seven letters concerning food packages and money sent to Dr. Julius Juer, a Jewish prisoner in the Gurs internment camp (southern France). Exchanged between Jacob Stern, the prisoner's wife in Nice and the owner of the Swiss department store "Warenhaus Brann", Julius Brann. November-December 1940.
· Nineteen letters, documents and forms concerning food packages and money sent to Marcus Kanarek, a Jewish prisoner in the Gurs internment camp. Exchanged between Jacob and Yenta Stern, the prisoner's daughter in Kaunas, his sister in New York and various financial institutions in Switzerland. 1941.
· Nine letters sent to Jacob Stern from various countries in Europe, requesting aid for Jews (two are written on postcards sent from Toulouse). 1940-1943.
· Twelve documents and forms issued by the Relico aid organization: five forms for ordering products, five payment vouchers, a letter and a list of products that can be ordered via Portugal.
· Eight letters, telegrams and greeting cards exchanged between Jacob Stern and his relatives (in Jerusalem, Warsaw and elsewhere), on the occasion of his engagement and marriage to Yenta Erlanger shortly before the outbreak of the war (one of the greetings is written on a photograph of the Sterns on their wedding day). 1939.
· And more.
Enclosed are several original envelopes. Two of them with Nazi Germany postal marks.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Rabbi Jacob Stern and his wife Yenta escaped Nazi Germany to Switzerland. During the war, the couple managed a children's home in the Waldek hotel building in Langenbruck, Switzerland, which housed about 50 Jewish children from religious families who had escaped the Third Reich. This collection documents their attempts to assist Jews in Nazi-occupied countries.
The collection includes:
· Three receipts for food products sent to Belgium, issued by the customs and export authorities of Switzerland (with the surename "Auffenberg" noted in two of the receipts). September-October 1940.
· Seven letters concerning food packages and money sent to Dr. Julius Juer, a Jewish prisoner in the Gurs internment camp (southern France). Exchanged between Jacob Stern, the prisoner's wife in Nice and the owner of the Swiss department store "Warenhaus Brann", Julius Brann. November-December 1940.
· Nineteen letters, documents and forms concerning food packages and money sent to Marcus Kanarek, a Jewish prisoner in the Gurs internment camp. Exchanged between Jacob and Yenta Stern, the prisoner's daughter in Kaunas, his sister in New York and various financial institutions in Switzerland. 1941.
· Nine letters sent to Jacob Stern from various countries in Europe, requesting aid for Jews (two are written on postcards sent from Toulouse). 1940-1943.
· Twelve documents and forms issued by the Relico aid organization: five forms for ordering products, five payment vouchers, a letter and a list of products that can be ordered via Portugal.
· Eight letters, telegrams and greeting cards exchanged between Jacob Stern and his relatives (in Jerusalem, Warsaw and elsewhere), on the occasion of his engagement and marriage to Yenta Erlanger shortly before the outbreak of the war (one of the greetings is written on a photograph of the Sterns on their wedding day). 1939.
· And more.
Enclosed are several original envelopes. Two of them with Nazi Germany postal marks.
Size and condition vary. Good overall condition.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $6,000
Unsold
A letter of protection, issued by the Spanish embassy in Budapest to a Jewish woman. Budapest, November 29, 1944. Hungarian.
Typescript letter, with details filled-in by hand and inked stamps of the Spanish embassy. The letter reads: "The Spanish Embassy hereby certifies that it has issued a protection letter no. 298/b to Mrs. Jénőné Unger [b. 1905] and she is therefore under the protection of the Embassy" (a spanyol követség ezennel igazolja, hogy Unger Jénőné részére a 298/b sz védlevelet kiadta, és igy ö a követség védelme alatt áll).
The letter was issued one day before the Spanish Ambassador in Budapest, Righteous among the Nations Ángel Sanz Briz, left the embassy by order of the government and moved to Switzerland. After his departure, the embassy was run by his assistant Giorgio Perlasca, who, although he had no official appointment, pretended to have been appointed Sanz Briz's deputy and issued thousands of forged protection documents for the Jews of Budapest.
This letter differs from the official protection letters issued by Sanz Briz before his departure: it is not printed on official letterhead, does not bear a passport picture of the owner, is not signed by Sanz Briz, and its phrasing is short and vague. Based on the date of issue and the improvised appearance of the letter, one may assume this is a forged letter of protection issued by Giorgio Perlasca after the closing of the embassy.
The database of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum lists a survivor from Budapest named Jénőné Unger who was born in 1905.
Giorgio Perlasca was recognized in 1989 as Righteous among the Nations for his efforts to save Jews.
Approx. 17X20 cm. Good condition. Fold lines, stains and minor blemishes. Small hole to intersection of fold lines. A long handwritten text (Hungarian) to margins and verso.
Typescript letter, with details filled-in by hand and inked stamps of the Spanish embassy. The letter reads: "The Spanish Embassy hereby certifies that it has issued a protection letter no. 298/b to Mrs. Jénőné Unger [b. 1905] and she is therefore under the protection of the Embassy" (a spanyol követség ezennel igazolja, hogy Unger Jénőné részére a 298/b sz védlevelet kiadta, és igy ö a követség védelme alatt áll).
The letter was issued one day before the Spanish Ambassador in Budapest, Righteous among the Nations Ángel Sanz Briz, left the embassy by order of the government and moved to Switzerland. After his departure, the embassy was run by his assistant Giorgio Perlasca, who, although he had no official appointment, pretended to have been appointed Sanz Briz's deputy and issued thousands of forged protection documents for the Jews of Budapest.
This letter differs from the official protection letters issued by Sanz Briz before his departure: it is not printed on official letterhead, does not bear a passport picture of the owner, is not signed by Sanz Briz, and its phrasing is short and vague. Based on the date of issue and the improvised appearance of the letter, one may assume this is a forged letter of protection issued by Giorgio Perlasca after the closing of the embassy.
The database of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum lists a survivor from Budapest named Jénőné Unger who was born in 1905.
Giorgio Perlasca was recognized in 1989 as Righteous among the Nations for his efforts to save Jews.
Approx. 17X20 cm. Good condition. Fold lines, stains and minor blemishes. Small hole to intersection of fold lines. A long handwritten text (Hungarian) to margins and verso.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $3,000
Unsold
Igazolás – an employment certificate issued to Miklós Herman by a road and railway construction company in Budapest (Kaltenecker Ferenc, ut- és vasút építési vállalkozó). Budapest, November 30, 1944. Hungarian.
Typescript certificate indicating that Miklós Herman is employed as a foreman in a company whose work is essential to the war effort. The certificate bears a passport photograph (stapled) and official inked stamps of the company; hand-signed by the supervisor.
On October 21, 1944, about one week after the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party came to power, the newly appointed Minister of Defense, Károly Beregfy, issued a special order requiring the draft of all the Jewish men aged 16-60 and all Jewish women aged 16-40 to Hungarian labour service units. Approximately 70,000 Jews from Budapest were sent to build the "South-East Wall" (Reichsschutzstellung), the system of fortifications planned by Nazi Germany with the intention of stopping the Red Army. The labor units worked under extremely harsh conditions; thousands died of exhaustion and many others died of starvation or disease.
Among the few groups who were granted exemption from labour service were Jews who worked in the armament industry. An official certificate of employment, such as this one, exempted its owner from forced labor, thus saving his or her life.
[1] leaf, approx. 29.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Fold lines, creases and minor wear. Minor stains. Tears and small holes to edges and fold lines. Pen notations on verso.
Typescript certificate indicating that Miklós Herman is employed as a foreman in a company whose work is essential to the war effort. The certificate bears a passport photograph (stapled) and official inked stamps of the company; hand-signed by the supervisor.
On October 21, 1944, about one week after the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party came to power, the newly appointed Minister of Defense, Károly Beregfy, issued a special order requiring the draft of all the Jewish men aged 16-60 and all Jewish women aged 16-40 to Hungarian labour service units. Approximately 70,000 Jews from Budapest were sent to build the "South-East Wall" (Reichsschutzstellung), the system of fortifications planned by Nazi Germany with the intention of stopping the Red Army. The labor units worked under extremely harsh conditions; thousands died of exhaustion and many others died of starvation or disease.
Among the few groups who were granted exemption from labour service were Jews who worked in the armament industry. An official certificate of employment, such as this one, exempted its owner from forced labor, thus saving his or her life.
[1] leaf, approx. 29.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Fold lines, creases and minor wear. Minor stains. Tears and small holes to edges and fold lines. Pen notations on verso.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
![Seven photographs of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Poland (and elsewhere?), [ca. late 1930s or early 1940s]. Four of the](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/219_1.jpg "Seven Photographs – Jews with Armbands – Poland During the Holocaust")
![Seven photographs of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Poland (and elsewhere?), [ca. late 1930s or early 1940s]. Four of the](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/219_2.jpg "Seven Photographs – Jews with Armbands – Poland During the Holocaust")
![Seven photographs of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Poland (and elsewhere?), [ca. late 1930s or early 1940s]. Four of the](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/219_3.jpg "Seven Photographs – Jews with Armbands – Poland During the Holocaust")
![Seven photographs of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Poland (and elsewhere?), [ca. late 1930s or early 1940s]. Four of the](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/219_4.jpg "Seven Photographs – Jews with Armbands – Poland During the Holocaust")
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $300
Unsold
Seven photographs of Polish Jews during the Holocaust. Poland (and elsewhere?), [ca. late 1930s or early 1940s].
Four of the photographs are titled by hand on verso (German), indicating the location: two were taken in Warsaw, one in Kozienice and one in Poland (no town specified). One photograph stamped on verso "Photo-Glock, Karlsruhe".
6X6 cm to 9X6.5 cm. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes.
Four of the photographs are titled by hand on verso (German), indicating the location: two were taken in Warsaw, one in Kozienice and one in Poland (no town specified). One photograph stamped on verso "Photo-Glock, Karlsruhe".
6X6 cm to 9X6.5 cm. Good overall condition. Minor blemishes.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue
![Twenty-eight photographs documenting the Holocaust. Lodz, Dachau, Buchenwald and elsewhere. [Late 1930s to mid-1940s]. Most](https://files.kedem-auctions.com/files/Sale73-public/220.jpg "Collection of Photographs Documenting the Holocaust – The Dachau and B")
Auction 73 - Jewish and Israeli History, Culture and Art
August 11, 2020
Opening: $800
Sold for: $2,750
Including buyer's premium
Twenty-eight photographs documenting the Holocaust. Lodz, Dachau, Buchenwald and elsewhere. [Late 1930s to mid-1940s].
Most of the photographs are highly graphic and explicit, documenting the victims of the camps. Several of the photographs are signed and numbered in the plate, stamped on verso or with postcard divided backs. One photograph bears a typewritten caption on verso (Czech).
Enclosed: 21 photographs documenting the ruins of cities across Germany and the Western front – Berlin, Kassel, Brandenburg and elsewhere (possibly taken by an Allies soldier).
Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition. Open tears to several photographs.
Most of the photographs are highly graphic and explicit, documenting the victims of the camps. Several of the photographs are signed and numbered in the plate, stamped on verso or with postcard divided backs. One photograph bears a typewritten caption on verso (Czech).
Enclosed: 21 photographs documenting the ruins of cities across Germany and the Western front – Berlin, Kassel, Brandenburg and elsewhere (possibly taken by an Allies soldier).
Size and condition vary. Good-fair overall condition. Open tears to several photographs.
Category
The Dreyfus Affair, Antisemitism, The Holocaust and She'erit HaPletah
Catalogue